Epilogue to the ant story--

At therapy today, the first words out of T's mouth were about the ants. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't really intended to bring this up as there is so much else. He said how he couldn't believe all the ants from the flowers he had brought to the meeting. I commented, very neutrally, "you squished them with your finger." He said, "I know, I feel bad about that," and he truly looked remorseful, as if it really did matter to him. So I felt that bit of dissonance I had experienced go away. T did respect living things. He talked about his wonderful garden, from which the flowers had come, and showed me slides of it on his computer. He also showed me some photos of birds he had taken in his garden. I came away with that feeling that T did have a love for animal and plant life. So I guess the ant issue is resolved.